Monday, July 6, 2026

Pierre Vessigaud’s Brilliant Mâcon-Fuissé. $32

At a time when White Burgundy from the Côte d’Or is both pricier and harder to come by, the Maconnais is a refuge for those seeking top quality wine at a reasonable price. We discovered the Domaine Pierre Vessigaud after reading fulsome praise from William Kelley, and the wines continue to show beautifully, both at the regional level and in Pouilly-Fuissé. Kelley wrote: “Succulent but serious, any bottle bearing Vessigaud’s name is worth seeking out.”

Tuesday, June 30, 2026

“A Bundle of White Stone Energy”

For many years we have known the Domaine Gautheron as a low profile address offering consistently excellent wines in a style that is truly Chablisien. Jasper Morris MW calls Cyril Gautheron “a superb producer making wines in a crisp cool classically Chablis style.” The 2024 vintage provides a ringing affirmation of this praise: steely, dry wines full of tension and elegance, and a beautiful showcase for Cyril’s skills and the subtleties of Chablis terroir.

Friday, June 26, 2026

New Arrival: Old-Vine Crozes-Hermitage

Winemaker Yann Chave returned home to his family’s Northern Rhône estate 30 years ago, and since then he’s earned an impressive reputation. Jancis Robinson writes of “really artisanal wine with masses of integrity and bags of personality.” The Wine Advocate’s reviewer writes “Chave’s continuing progress makes this one of the most exciting estates in Crozes-Hermitage.

Thursday, June 25, 2026

The Best Sancerre We’ve Ever Imported

Sancerre remains among the world’s best known white wines. Sauvignon blanc, a naturally high acid grape, is well positioned to weather today’s hot summers without losing pep and energy. Our source here is the Domaine de la Garenne, an old family domaine of the highest quality, certified organic and practicing biodynamic techniques.

Sunday, June 21, 2026

Pre-Arrival: New Artisan Ciders from Normandy

Wine may be France’s most famous culinary export, but it’s hardly alone. The French have plenty of protected designations: for cheese, of course, but also for chicken, mustard, lentils, ham, oysters, butter, nuts and even salt. One of the pleasures of spending time in France is discovering the distinctive foods each region proudly produces. Normandy […]

Thursday, June 18, 2026

Garage-Sized Winery, World-Class Rosé

We’d bet that many readers have garages bigger than the Domaine Malmont’s winemaking space. We work with some small-production winemakers, but even by our standards Malmont’s winery is tiny. The space attached to winemaker Nicolas Haeni’s house in Séguret looks more like a large tool shed than a winemaking operation.

Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Backyard Beaujolais: The Red Wine of Summer

On a hot summer day our choice of wine is usually white (Chablis/Muscadet) or rosé . But sometimes the moment or meal calls for a red, and we like to be well prepared. Reds served cool have had a turn in the spotlight in recent years, and we delight in their rediscovered popularity. But it has to be the right red – cold Volnay or St-Emilion is mostly just tannin and acid.

Monday, June 15, 2026

A Return to Classical Chablis

For the winemakers of Chablis the 2024 vintage was about as difficult as they come. Spring frosts, months of rain, summer hailstorms, and relentless humidity in the vines all combined to produce one of the smallest crops in recent memory. But handled correctly, the vintage also produced thrilling wines shot with tension and vibrant energy – a return to classical Chablis.

Friday, June 12, 2026

Vibrant, Everyday Biodynamic White Burgundy Under $30

No winemaker we work with has captured more readers’ attention in the last few years than Pierre Vessigaud. We get emails with comments like “the wines are so alive,” and “as good as Meursault but half the price.” We’re not surprised – we find ourselves reaching for Vessigaud’s wines more often every month.

Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Irresistible New Summertime Rosé. $22

Our criteria for a good rosé are simple: fresh, low alcohol, and inexpensive. Sure, there’s plenty of serious rosé out there that’s tasty – but for the summer we like to keep it straightforward. On a muggy summer afternoon, there’s little more welcome than a cold splash of rosé in a gently fogged glass.

Monday, June 8, 2026

Unapologetically Nuits-St-Georges

By Burgundy standards, Nuits-St-Georges is an enormous appellation, stretching nearly four miles end to end. The soil makeup varies widely across the town, and Nuits can best be thought of as three distinct districts: north, middle and south. The northern part that borders Vosne is the most elegant, the middle the boldest and most powerful, and the southern the most mineral.

Friday, June 5, 2026

A Showstopping White Burgundy

We are delighted to identify for you the domaine that produces the wine we have offered under the private label “Forces Telluriques.” It is the Domaine Guillemot-Michel from the hamlet of Quintaine in the Viré-Clessé appellation of the Maconnais — since the 1980’s the project of Pierette and Marc Guillemot-Michel, who have been joined in the last decade by their daughter Sophie and their son-in-law Gautier Roussille. Same tasty wine, just a slightly less funky label.

Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Nine-Year-Old Grüner That Drinks Like Burgundy

Salomon Undhof is a centuries-old winery in Krems, Austria overlooking the Danube River. Today 7th and 8th generation winemakers Bert and Bert Salomon run the estate, and they’re among the best respected sources in the region. They’ve become favorites of many readers (as well as our own family) and we’re delighted to bring them back by popular demand.

Monday, June 1, 2026

Fine-Grained, Detailed Premier Cru Red Burgundy under $50

The 2023 red Burgundies are still quite young, but they’ve already begun to reveal themselves as a tremendous vintage. From a growing season full of extreme heat and drought but with perfectly timed rains, the best wines are perfectly balanced – with modest alcohol, excellent density, and vibrant textures. We heard more than a few winemakers describe them as “digeste” (roughly, digestible), and it’s an excellent characterization.

Friday, May 29, 2026

Striking Elegance, Summer-Ready Price

You don’t have to be a vigneron to notice Guillaume Goujon and Sebastien Dupré are farming organically. Their vineyards appear almost abandoned – vines share the ground with herbs, flowers, grasses, and wildlife, all in the name of fostering biodiversity and soil health. In the cellar Dupré and Goujon have a similarly light touch – their cuvées are made with whole clusters, ambient yeasts, limited oak, very low sulfites, and a long, slow elevage.